208 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BIRDS, 



Degrading employment such toils of the chase ; 

 May wisdom supply a more glorious race! 

 The Wrynecks^ 8 ) contorting, the Cuckoo pursued; 

 And, as long as they chose, a few Turtle-Doves 

 coo'd. 



There were formerly great flocks of bustards in this country, 

 upon the wastes and in woods, where they were hunted by 

 greyhounds, and easily taken. They have been latterly recom- 

 mended to be bred as domestic fowls, and, to those who desire 

 novelty, the bustard seems to be peculiarly an object for pro- 

 pagation ; the flesh is delicious ; and it is supposed that good 

 feeding and domestication might stimulate them to lay more 

 eggs. 



( 8S ) Order, PiCiE, (Linn.) Wryneck. 



1 The genus Yunx, (Linn.) or Wryneck, consists of one spe- 

 cies only, as follows : 



The Torquilla, Wryneck, Long-tongue, Emmet -Hunter, or 

 Cuckoo's Maiden, is a beautiful bird about seven inches long; 

 it has a smooth-pointed, a little incurved, weak bill ; feet 

 climbers; colour grey, varied with brown and blackish; belly 

 reddish white, with blackish spots ; tail feathers waved, with 

 black spots, streaks, and bars ; the whole plumage a mixture of 

 grey, black, and tawny. It arrives in this country sometimes 

 as early as the middle of March. Its chief food is ants and 

 their eggs, which it takes with the tongue. The name Wryneck 

 has been given to it from the awkward contortions of its head 

 and neck ; it also erects the feathers of the head in a terrific 

 manner. It makes a noise very much like the smaller species of 

 hawks. It quits this country about September, at which time 

 it grows very fat, and is then esteemed a delicacy : it has 

 sometimes been called an ortolan, from its resemblance to that: 

 delicate bird. 



"The Welsh,'' says Mr. Gisborne, "consider the Wryneck 



